The extended cognition thesis: Its significance for the philosophy of (cognitive) science

Arnau, Eric; Estany, Anna; Solar, Rafael González del; Sturm, Thomas

doi:10.1080/09515089.2013.836081

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Although prominent theorists disagree on the answer to this question [1], most traditional formulations continue to include only mental processes occurring within the physical boundaries of the individual [2]. However, these conventional perspectives are being challenged by a growing number of philosophers, biologists and psychologists who advocate for definitions of cognition to incorporate interactions between the individual and the environment [3][4][5][6][7]. Most prominently, Clark & Chalmers' [8] extended mind thesis describes cognition as a cohesive system consisting of both internal processes and interactions with the external environment that facilitate performance on cognitive tasks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental origins of cognitive offloading

2020

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Many animals manipulate their environments in ways that appear to augment cognitive processing. Adult humans show remarkable flexibility in this domain, typically relying on internal cognitive processing when adequate but turning to external support in situations of high internal demand. We use calendars, calculators, navigational aids and other external means to compensate for our natural cognitive shortcomings and achieve otherwise unattainable feats of intelligence. As yet, however, the developmental origins of this fundamental capacity for cognitive offloading remain largely unknown. In two studies, children aged 4–11 years ( n = 258) were given an opportunity to manually rotate a turntable to eliminate the internal demands of mental rotation––to solve the problem in the world rather than in their heads. In study 1, even the youngest children showed a linear relationship between mental rotation demand and likelihood of using the external strategy, paralleling the classic relationship between angle of mental rotation and reaction time. In study 2, children were introduced to a version of the task where manually rotating inverted stimuli was sometimes beneficial to performance and other times redundant. With increasing age, children were significantly more likely to manually rotate the turntable only when it would benefit them. These results show how humans gradually calibrate their cognitive offloading strategies throughout childhood and thereby uncover the developmental origins of this central facet of intelligence.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental origins of cognitive offloading

2020

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“…In this section, I apply these dimensions to conceptualize the interactions and degree of integration between researchers and artifacts, demonstrating the usefulness of situated cognition theory for the philosophy of scientific practice (see also Arnau et al 2014). I focus on four case studies: computer models (icons), pH-meters (indices), laboratory notebooks (symbols), and organised work-environments (spatial ecological artifacts).…”

Section: Conceptualizing Cognitive Integration: Case Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The cognitive integration of scientific instruments: information, situated cognition, and scientific practice

Heersmink

2015

Phenom Cogn Sci

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Researchers in the biological and biomedical sciences, particularly those working in laboratories, use a variety of artifacts to help them perform their cognitive tasks. This paper analyses the relationship between researchers and cognitive artifacts in terms of integration. It first distinguishes different categories of cognitive artifacts used in biological practice on the basis of their informational properties. This results in a novel classification of scientific instruments, conducive to an analysis of the cognitive interactions between researchers and artifacts. It then uses a multidimensional framework in line with complementarity-based extended and distributed cognition theory to conceptualize how deeply instruments in different informational categories are integrated into the cognitive systems of their users. The paper concludes that the degree of integration depends on various factors, including the amount of informational malleability, the intensity and kind of information flow between agent and artifact, the trustworthiness of the information, the procedural and informational transparency, and the degree of individualisation.

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“…These ideas have had a major impact in several disciplines such as cognitive science [17], psychology [18], and biology [19]. In the educational sciences extended cognition hypothesis and especially the concept of enactivism is closely related to constructivist learning theories [20].…”

Section: Extended Cognition Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Extended Cognition Hypothesis Applied to Computational Thinking in Computer Science Education

Letonsaari

2018

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

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Computational thinking is a much-used concept in computer science education. Here we examine the concept from the viewpoint of the extended cognition hypothesis. The analysis reveals that the extent of the concept is limited by its strong historical roots in computer science and software engineering. According to the extended cognition hypothesis, there is no meaningful distinction between human cognitive functions and the technology. This standpoint promotes a broader interpretation of the human-technology interaction. Human cognitive processes spontaneously adapt available technology enhanced skills when technology is used in cognitively relevant levels and modalities. A new concept technology synchronized thinking is presented to denote this conclusion. More diverse and practical approach is suggested for the computer science education.

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The extended cognition thesis: Its significance for the philosophy of (cognitive) science

Cited by 16 publications

References 58 publications

Developmental origins of cognitive offloading

Developmental origins of cognitive offloading

The cognitive integration of scientific instruments: information, situated cognition, and scientific practice

Extended Cognition Hypothesis Applied to Computational Thinking in Computer Science Education

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